Woman trapped for 18 hours after Pa. car crash

LANCASTER, Pa. — A south-central Pennsylvania man is being lauded as a hero for helping rescue a teenager trapped for 18 hours in her overturned sport utility vehicle.

Authorities in Lancaster County say 49-year-old Brad Shearer helped save the life of 18-year-old Brooke Spence, whose SUV flipped over late Saturday in West Hempfield Township.

Police say the injured Spence was trapped in the SUV in underbrush by a creek until Shearer noticed the vehicle while getting ready to grill on his deck Sunday evening. The Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era reports that he saw something glinting in the underbrush and went to check it out.

He found Spence calm and conscious, and had his wife call 911. Spence had lost her cellphone in the accident and was unable to call for help.

She was in serious condition at a hospital Monday. Police say her parents had been away on vacation.

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